The midlands’ managerial merry-go-round, PSG’s Aurier saves international opponents life and San Marino’s first away goal in 17 years

1. Former Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce is expected to be announced as the new Aston Villa manager in the next few days. If appointed, Bruce will take over at Villa Park with the club in the lower reaches of the Championship table.

2. Derby County are in talks with Steve McClaren over a shock return to the iPro Stadium for the former England manager, who had previously been in charge of the team when they missed out of the playoffs in the 2014-15 season. Current caretaker manager Chris Powell is expected to be named assistant if McClaren is appointed.

3. The Romanian Football Federation has claimed that members of its national team squad had money and a tablet computer belonging to a team masseur stolen from their hotel ahead of their World Cup Qualifier in Kazakhstan, which ended goalless.

4. Paris St Germain’s Ivory Coast international, Serge Aurier, saved an opponent’s life as he prevented Mali’s Moussa Doumbia from swallowing his tongue following a clash of heads during a match between the two nations.

5. Anthony Taylor’s appointment as referee for the Liverpool vs Manchester United game on Monday has been criticised as he was born in Wythenshawe, an area of Greater Manchester just ten miles from Old Trafford. Taylor is a supporter of National League North club, Altrincham.

6. San Marino hadn’t scored away from home in a World Cup Qualifier for 17 years until they equalised against Norway last night. This was the reaction of the Norwegian pundits, although they needn’t have been too worried as the hosts ran out 4-1 winners in the end (TheGuardian).

7. Damien Comolli claims he was sacked as Liverpool’s director of football for ‘wasting money’ on the signing of Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson, who has gone on to captain both the club and England during his stint at Anfield (Independent).

8. Adidas have unveiled a pair of limited edition boots dedicated to Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi. The only problem for fans is they are only available in size eight, the same size as Messi himself. Oh, and they’ll set you back £330 (SoccerLaduma).

9. Arsenal’s Petr Cech has entered the Guinness Book of Records twice, once for most clean sheets in the Premier League and again for being the only ‘keeper to win the golden glove award with two different clubs (WhoAteAllThePies).

10. And finally… Daniel Agger has declared his undying love for former club Liverpool by having ‘YNWA’, short for club anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, tattooed on his knuckles, along with a Liverbird symbol (Mirror).

Ben is a supporter of Swindon Town FC. He is an aspiring sports writer, and his ramblings can be found on TheBootRoom and TheFootballForecast. He is also the editor of TheOffsideDaily. In his spare time he reads and writes about corruption in FIFA, and in football more generally.